Newsletter

Looking at the future of parking in Savannah's Thomas Square and Metropolitan neighborhoods

Ever since SCAD opened Arnold Hall on Bull Street, some blocks of the Thomas Square and Metropolitan neighborhoods have faced terrible parking problems.

I live just two blocks away on 32nd Street and have had no adverse impact to my quality of life. But residents on streets like 34th and Brady often come home to find on-street capacity completely taken by students, faculty and staff.

Some of those residents have lane access for off-street parking, but not all.

SCAD tried encouraging students to take free shuttles and securing staff parking at a nearby church lot, but those efforts had no impact for the hardest-hit blocks.

The new parking plan for the area, which was unveiled at a meeting last Monday, was created by a citizens task force working with city officials.

The proposal, which will go before City Council in a few weeks, seems like a reasonable and relatively measured way to serve the interests of residents, businesses and students.

If some results fall short of goals, the plan could be relatively easily tweaked.

A few key components:

Parking will be limited to 1.5 hours on 34th, Brady, 35th and 36th streets between Abercorn and Barnard streets. Residents of those blocks will have to get parking stickers.

Enforcement will be from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Thursday. SCAD does not have regularly scheduled Friday classes.

There will be dedicated parking for Bull Street Library employees on 35th Street. Some small businesses will have spaces out front with limited times or uses.

Parking will remain free, untimed and unmetered on Bull, Barnard and Abercorn streets.

There are some obvious drawbacks beyond the ratcheting up of bureaucracy.

There’s no exemption for months such as December when SCAD is not in session and parking is not a problem.

While the plan will likely disperse cars along its fringes, some blocks, such as mine, could see dramatically more intense use. I have a lane with off-street parking, so that would only be a mild inconvenience forme, but my neighbors across the street rely on on-street parking. As a result, the area covered by the plan might need to be extended.

The 1.5 hour limits might not be an adequate deterrent to students because they can simply move their cars during the breaks typically taken during SCAD’s 2.5 hour sessions.

As happens almost any time cities implement neighborhood parking plans, we’re likely to see some perfectly good spaces sit empty pretty much all the time.

What about adding a garage or more on-street parking?

Of course, there are other more aggressive ways to add parking to the area.

There could be a garage, as has been considered by some. But a large, unsightly parking facility doesn’t seem a good fit for the neighborhood, nor does it seem warranted by SCAD’s seasonality.

And there’s a much easier and more cost-effective way to add considerably more parking to the neighborhood while at the same time accomplishing a variety of other goals. We could simply add on-street parking to Drayton and Whitaker streets.

Outside of relatively narrow times around rush hour, Drayton and Whitaker between Anderson and 37th streets have relatively little traffic. Last Tuesday at exactly 1 p.m., I counted only 78 cars on Drayton at 32nd Street in a 10-minute period — eight cars per minute.

Even during more intense times of use, there’s no need for Drayton’s current configuration of two 15-foot travel lanes. Those are wider than travel lanes on most highways. They encourage dangerously high speeds, discourage use of sidewalks and diminish property values in the corridor.

It would be quite simple to have 11-foot lanes with an 8-foot parking lane on one side.

That design would better serve neighborhood businesses, institutions and residents. We’d see slower speeds with no decrease in road capacity and no increase in accidents. We’d see higher property values and more pedestrians on the sidewalk.

The idea of parking on Drayton and Whitaker streets apparently came up during meetings, but the folks on the parking task force didn’t want to open that can of worms.

So I’m opening it here.

It feels like we’ve turned a collective corner in recent years. For decades, Savannah joined most of America in giving precedence to automobiles. We designed streets so commuters could go as fast as possible, no matter the detrimental effects to the neighborhoods that were being carved up.

But now residents of neighborhoods damaged by these decisions are finding their voices. At the same time, more and more citizens are finding themselves as advocates for bicycling, walking and other alternatives to automobiles.

These are positive trends that show no sign of slowing.

City Talk appears every Tuesday and Sunday. Bill Dawers can be reached via billdawers@comcast.net and http://www.billdawers.com. Send mail to 10 East 32nd St., Savannah, GA 31401.